Downtown plan fallout fails to materialize in election

Bruce Kunze, John Kazlauskas and David Johnson all voted for the insurance premium tax increase in February of 2009 that will fund Owensboro's downtown improvements. In fact, they were the only three who voted for the increase who were on Tuesday's local ballot. They all survived quite nicely and will be on the November ballot despite opposition from several newcomers.

Kunze stepped up to the judge executive race and easily won the Democrat nomination. Kazlauskas finished third and Johnson fifth in the 12-way battle to choose the top eight candidates for four spots in November. What may be more telling is that those most vocal in their opposition to the downtown plan were soundly defeated. In the GOP primary for judge executive, former city commissioner Al Mattingly trounced his two opponents--both very vocal opponents of the insurance tax increase. Mattingly didn't campaign against the downtown plan. Neither did the two top vote-getters in the city commission race, Pamela Smith-Wright or Roger Stacy.

Surely, there's been many vocal opponents of the tax increase and the downtown plan. Everyone seems to have an opinion, and many of us who supported the plan have wondered if it was simply a loud minority or majority. Tuesday's results would seem to indicate that there are in fact many "quiet" supporters of it.

Downtown Owensboro has a long way to go to be all its supporters envision. Tuesday night, however, those who predicted a "complete sweep" of local government should be disappointed. More appropriately, those who support the downtown plan should be heartened.

There's no substitute for hard work

I had the fortune last week to speak to honor students at my alma mater, Gibson Southern High School near Ft. Branch IN. The first night I spoke to 6th through 12th graders and on the second night it was 1st through 5th graders. I must admit that I was a little nervous. I hadn't been in my high school gym since graduating 26 years ago this month, and there were a handful of my classmates there probably questioning if I was worth their time.

I took the opportunity to talk about the value of working hard, looking for opportunities to stand out from the crowd and getting outside one's "comfort zone" to learn something different. I told the 6th through 12th graders that their parents give them advice and responsibility based on many more years of experience; they, in turn, are best served listening to them and not questioning when they heard the dreaded word: "no."

That is a summary of my life experiences and I have my parents to thank. Both of mine were hard-working, dedicated and headstrong. My dad was a truck driver and my mother worked at home and later in a furniture factory. They put "first things first" and somewhere along the way, it rubbed off on me. Little did I know that their example was being engraved in me and how much the adage to "work hard" would play out in my life.

Today, many students don't have that example at home. Modern America's staggering divorce rates and other struggles leave us with many single-parent homes and lost opportunities to instill sustaining values in kids' minds. I, myself, split custody of my two teenage sons with their mother and I try to make up for that lost time by purposely looking for chances to make points and teach them lessons that will hopefully make them successful adults.

I've found hard work will overcome many obstacles. There are no shortcuts. The same goes for good parenting.